


Late

by FrozenSnares



Series: Benefits of Detention [15]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Shireen POV, cute stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-30
Updated: 2015-05-30
Packaged: 2018-04-01 19:35:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4032052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrozenSnares/pseuds/FrozenSnares
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rickon surprises Shireen with some news.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late

Open books, notebooks, and loose sheets of papers littered the floor of the dorm. The mess had been steadily growing for the past two weeks, and while Shireen and Alys had a loose policy against eating in their dorm, their trashcan was now mostly food wrappers. Currently, Alys was seated at her desk, headphones on, pouring over one of her textbooks. Shireen was lying on her bed, scribbling out notes and glancing at her phone every minute or so. After another few minutes of this, she clicked on the screen to check the time.

“He’s late,” Shireen announced to the room.

Alys pulled out one earbud and gave Shireen a quick sideways glance. “Are you expecting someone?”

Shireen groaned. “Rickon always calls at six-thirty,” she said. “Every single day unless he’s told me beforehand that he’d be late or miss a day. And it is currently six-thirty-seven.”

Alys shrugged, turning back to her work. “That’s not so bad,” she replied. “He probably just got hung up on something. I’m sure he’ll call you any minute now. Just give it a rest.”

Shireen slumped over her textbook, resting her head over her forearms. She began flicking her phone in slow circles, waiting for it to light up. Just when she looked away to find another textbook, it started vibrating. Shireen snatched up her phone immediately, forgetting that she was already leaning off her bed. Grabbing onto her dresser for balance, Shireen hefted herself up and answered the call. “Rickon!”

His laughter filled her ears. “Sorry I was late,” he said. “I was busy taking care of stuff, but you were probably too busy studying to notice…”

“I’ve actually been staring at my phone for six minutes just waiting for you,” Shireen admitted. “So you can blame yourself if I fail my finals.”

“All your finals? I think that’s a little ridiculous.”

“It’ll be your entire fault,” Shireen said firmly.

He laughed again, and Shireen settled back into her pillows. She smiled into the phone, relishing in the reprieve from studying. As Rickon chattered about his day, she took the time to organize some of the notes on her bed. Her desk was surprisingly clean, but her bed suffered for it. If she didn’t organize soon, she’d have to sleep with her notes.

“So I have something to show you,” Rickon said abruptly.

“Oh? What is it?” she asked, giving him her full attention.

“Telling you would ruin the surprise of showing you,” Rickon insisted. He was starting to sound a bit winded. “So tell me your address and I’ll mail it to you.”

Shireen rolled her eyes. “I’ll be home in a week, Rickon. Can’t it wait?”

“Absolutely not,” he said. “If I mail it right now, it’ll get to you tomorrow—the next day at the latest—and that would still be a full four days sooner than waiting for next week. So what’s your address?”

Even though Shireen was sure she’d texted it to Rickon several times, she recited it again for him. Rickon thanked her, sounding even more breathless. Shireen shook her head at him. “Where are you going?”

“Uh… the post office?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s closed this late,” Shireen told him. “I mean, you even got to calling me late today.”

Gradually, Rickon’s breathing steadied. “Yeah, you’re probably right about that. Maybe tomorrow, then. I’ll just have to see how things go.”

“How what things go?” Shireen asked. She glanced up when a knock sounded from the door. Looking at Alys, she was sure that her roommate hadn’t heard the noise. “Hold on… I think someone’s at the door.”

Rickon laughed again. “That’s okay,” he said. “I can wait for you to open a door.”

“Wait?” she snorted, moving off her bed, falling slightly, and yelping in the process. “I was just going to take my phone with me.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Rickon asked.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” she asked, pausing outside the door. “One sec.”

Shireen kept her phone up to her ear as she opened the door. Her greeting died on her lips as she saw Rickon standing just outside the door. His face was flushed and his hair looked particularly messy today. Still, it had been a few weeks since she’d looked into his icy blue eyes, and the temptation to run her hands through his auburn curls was pulling at her stomach. His jacket was open, and Shireen just wanted to be against him again. However, her breathing had stopped, and she was frozen in place.

“Hey,” Rickon said, smirking. He clicked off his phone and slid it into his pocket. Shireen lost her grip on her own phone. Rickon moved down quickly to catch it. Rickon paused on his way back up to press a kiss to her cheek. “Are you okay? You haven’t moved in a while.”

“Rickon!” she shouted, throwing her arms around his neck.

Rickon laughed, returning the hug and stepping into her room. He let the door close behind him and leaned down to kiss her on the lips. Shireen hummed against his mouth, returning the kiss. She pulled back suddenly.

“Wait, you can’t be here,” she said. “I have to tell Alys…”

“Already asked,” Rickon murmured, capturing her lips again. “Oh, also, you’re more than welcome to blame me for your finals now.” He picked her up and carried her further into the room. 

Shireen held onto his neck to steady herself and hugged him close. “Not my bed,” she warned. “It’s already occupied.”

“By who?” Rickon asked, looking around her and finding all her notes there. “Oh, I see. Is that the new study strategy? You just sleep on top of your notes and let osmosis help you remember the rest of it?”

“Something like that,” Shireen mumbled. Rickon slowly led them over to the desk and turned so that he sat on top of the desk and she was settled in his lap.

“Hi, Alys,” Rickon finally said, waving at her.

Alys gave him a little wave and, without looking up from her notes, said, “Here to interrupt everyone’s studying?”

“Why _are_ you here?” Shireen asked.

Rickon shook his head at her. “It’s like you don’t even remember the earlier part of our phone call,” he said, digging through he pockets. “I have something to show you.”

Shireen eagerly rocked side-to-side, as he pulled out an envelope. “Were you that excited about mailing it?” she joked.

“It came in the envelope,” Rickon replied, pulling out the contents. He handed her the contents. “I just thought you’d prefer to read it.”

“Out loud?” Shireen asked, turning the paper over in her hands.

Rickon shrugged. “If you want.”

Looking him in the eyes, Shireen cleared her throat before looking down at the paper. She saw the seal of Winterfell University and immediately said, “What?”

“You’re supposed to be reading it,” Rickon said, nudging her neck with his nose.

Clearing her throat again, Shireen read, “ _Dear Rickon Stark: Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you of your admission to the School of Management to study Business at Winterfell University for the fall semester of…_ ”

Shireen stopped reading and looked up at Rickon with wide eyes. He glanced down to her. “You didn’t finish,” he said, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“Are you serious?” she asked, a smile growing on her face.

Rickon laughed. “Didn’t think I’d get in?”

Shireen hit his shoulder. “You didn’t tell me you were applying!” she protested, picking up the letter to read it again. “I thought you were going to stay in high school for another two years…”

“I asked my parents to set me up with some college classes all year,” he said. His fingers started combing through her hair. “I also got my dad to get me into classes so I could graduate sooner, wrote to the university, and they said yes. Of course, I didn’t tell them that I was doing it for a girl… but with my standing now, we could probably graduate together.”

Shireen blinked up at him. “Wait, you’re serious?” she asked, her gaze drifting repeatedly between the letter and her boyfriend. “This is actually happening?”

Rickon laughed, leaning forward to kiss her. “I’m glad to see that you have so much faith in me.”

“I’m just… This is so exciting!” Shireen exclaimed, reading over the entirety of the letter. Rickon hugged her even closer. “We should celebrate!”

“You should pass your finals first,” Rickon said. He leaned over and grabbed at some of her notes. “I can help you, too. Do you want to… ew, gross… try to tell me what hermeneutics is?”

Rickon made a face at her and twisted his mouth. Shireen laughed at him. “I’ll manage my finals first,” she promised. “But you have to answer one question first.”

“Shoot.”

“Why Business?”

“Well, I figured that Robb mostly got slumped into it because he’s the oldest,” Rickon explained. “I thought I could give him a run for his money, and I’m pretty sure I can run Stark Enterprises just as well.”

“I’m sure he’ll appreciate it,” Shireen said through some giggles.

“I think he wants more time with his kid, actually,” Rickon said. He pressed another kiss to her lips. “And if we share the position, we’ll both have more time to spend with our family.”

“What?” Shireen asked quickly, turning to find his eyes and discern his meaning.

“What?” he asked back quickly.

“You said family,” Shireen said slowly. She leveled a look at him.

“I do have quite a large family,” Rickon said, just as slow. He didn’t meet her gaze, shifting his eyes back and forth.

“But you were saying… and… oh, never mind,” she finished lamely, sliding off his lap and stretching slightly. She could feel her face flushing, her thoughts were swarmed with thoughts of the future, and she could almost see them spending their days living together in a small house, Shaggydog growing older at their side, and children with his curly hair and icy eyes. Her heart started racing.

Rickon seemed to be reading her thoughts. He reached out for one of her hands and pressed a kiss to it. “Not yet,” he said, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. “But… if you’ll let me… later.”

“Later?” she asked, her voice hushed.

“Later,” he promised, gripping her hand tight. “But for now, you need to study. Isn’t your final tomorrow?”

**Author's Note:**

> More of this series! I haven't forgotten about it, I swear. I just need more ideas to keep writing it.
> 
> Also, I re-read the whole thing this week, and _wow_ , did I make a ton of grammatical mistakes... I'll probably go back and fix those later.
> 
> So go ahead and let me know what you think of this one, and what should happen next!


End file.
